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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: march · shower · race · tube · tear · game · wax · pound

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. race — a contest
  4. game — a match
  5. tube — the underground
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. march — music
  10. march — the month
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. shower — to wash
  13. tear — from crying
  14. game — wild animals
  15. tube — a container
  16. wax — to grow
  17. race — the arms race
  18. pound — a weight
  19. shower — rain
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. race — humankind
  22. tear — to rip
  23. tear — from crying
  24. wax — in the ear

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com